Kherson drone video shows civilian hunt, Ukraine says

Ukrainian officials accused Russian forces on Tuesday of using a drone to deliberately chase and attack a civilian in Kherson, after a video circulated showing a man pursued by a first-person-view drone.

AFP could not immediately verify the footage. It showed a man taking shelter behind a vehicle as a remotely piloted FPV drone followed him before detonating an explosive charge.

Yaroslav Shanko, head of the Kherson City Military Administration, said on Telegram that the man was selling vegetables at a street market when he was injured and survived. Local authorities identified him as Yuriy, 52. Kherson governor Oleksandr Prokudin said the man suffered blast trauma, shrapnel wounds and concussion, but that his life was not in danger.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reposted the footage on X and said many people had been shocked by what he called a Russian drone “safari” against civilians in Kherson. Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga called the incident a Russian war crime and said it required international condemnation and justice.

Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said the video showed what he called Russia's tactic of pursuing and killing innocent people.

Kherson was under Russian control from March to November 2022. Russian forces are now positioned on the opposite bank of the Dnieper river and regularly strike the city, including with drones.

The United Nations has reported an increase in civilian deaths in the conflict during 2026. Russian authorities also regularly accuse Kyiv of deliberately targeting civilians with drones, particularly in regions bordering Ukraine.